What are the political origins of America’s securities regulations? In contrast to
arguments that point to business owners as determining the institutional foundations of
America’s political economy, this paper argues that farmers play a leading role. Indeed,
the rules and regulations governing U.S. securities markets were created in opposition to
the wishes of business owners, and without farmers’ political influence, the United States
may have developed a variant of the coordinated market economy found in continental Europe. Moreover, to the extent that U.S. securities regulations serve as a template for
international financial standards, the paper will show that the humble American farmer
has inadvertently contributed to the financialization of the modern global economy.

dc.format.extent

63 p.

dc.language.iso

en

dc.relation.ispartofseries

RSIS Working Papers ; 196/10

dc.subject

DRNTU::Social sciences

dc.title

The domestic political origins of global financial standards : Agrarian influence and the creation of U.S. securities regulations